Friday, December 26, 2008

Happy Birthday, Lambeau Leap!


It was 15 years ago today that the now infamous Lambeau Leap made its debut.

Here's how it happened. The Pack was playing the then L.A. Raiders. The Raiders had just made a short pass completion. Safety LeRoy Butler put a big hit on the receiver who then fumbled the ball. The late, great Reggie White picked it up and started rumbling and stumbling toward the end zone. As a Raider was attempting to tackle him -- riiiiiight -- or at least push him out of bounds, LeRoy came near enough to Reggie where he could get a lateral...which Reggie did, of course. LeRoy then streaked the remaining 25 yards to the famous south end zone (famous, of course, because it was the end zone for the winning TD in the Ice Bowl game as well as the Instant Reply game, among others) for the touchdown. He kept running and made the first Lambeau Leap in history. It was the first of what would become many for the Packers since then.

As Paul Harvey (for those of who might remember him) would say, "And now you know the rest of the story."